


Returning Home

by Hufflepuff_Writer



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-04 23:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hufflepuff_Writer/pseuds/Hufflepuff_Writer
Summary: Arthur Curry grew up with a best friend, someone who had the same abilities as him, but also someone he hadn't seen since he was in high school. One day she returns to Amnesty Bay, but what will that mean to him when Mera comes to him about saving Atlantis?(Set during the new Aquaman movie)





	1. Old Friends

“Arthur, April, you’re gonna be late for school!” Lydia called to her kids down the hall. She could hear a loud groan coming from the 7-year-olds’ bedroom and she couldn’t help but smirk. Her son and daughter both had quite the attitude sometimes. When they finally made their way to the kitchen, Arthur didn’t look up at his mother, but April looked excited.

“Mom, I don’t wanna go to school,” Arthur said, sitting in a chair and resting his chin on the kitchen table. “Can I stay home with you?”

“Baby, you have to go to school,” Lydia replied with a sympathetic smile. “It’s your first day here. You can’t miss your first day. And I have to go to work. What about you, April? You feeling the same way?”

“No,” April replied with a grin. “I’m excited!”

Arthur pouted while Lydia continued preparing breakfast. Soon she put a plate in front of each twin with a stack of pancakes on it.

“Made your favorite,” she said with a grin. Arthur couldn’t help but smile and dig in, eating four pancakes in the end. April gave him a disgusted look as he wolfed down the food. It always surprised Lydia when he ate so much, but she figured it was simply because he was growing. “Now come on, you’re not gonna catch the bus if you two don’t hurry up,” she said after making sure Arthur and April brushed their teeth. They walked down the street to the bus stop just as the sun was rising, and just as the bus pulled up. Lydia hugged her kids, but Arthur wouldn’t let her kiss him on the cheek as he backed away from her grip to run to the bus, April right behind him.

“Bye, mom!” Arthur and April called simultaneously, waving, before the bus door closed behind them. Lydia smiled to them and waved back as the bus pulled away. As she was walking back to their apartment, she thought about what her day would bring. She never thought she would end up back in Amnesty Bay, and she was still trying to figure out what possessed her to move back in the first place. Her mom moved them to Boston when she was sixteen, and she eventually learned it wasn’t simply because her mom got a better job, but to get her away from her best friend. Though she was two years younger, she and Arthur Curry were best friends growing up. It’s what made her want to name her son Arthur in the first place. And now she was back after almost eight years, working at the local dive bar.

Once at work, Lydia began remembering things about her hometown that her mom wanted her to forget. In just the first couple hours of her shift she saw at least half the people she went to school with, and most of them were happy she was back. But what she wasn’t expecting was for her past to be dragged back to the surface quite as soon as it was.

While she was waiting on a table near the back of the restaurant, the door opened, and she immediately recognized both voices of the men who came in and sat at the bar. After taking care of the customers she was with, she turned to see if she was imagining things or not. Right there, sitting with his dad at the bar, was Arthur Curry. She licked her lips after realizing they felt very dry and rushed to the back, hoping he wouldn’t see her. A last-minute glance towards the bar as she went to the kitchen told her she hadn’t been fast enough, and he saw her.

Once at the back of the kitchen, Lydia took a deep breath and tried to ignore her heart trying to beat out of her chest. She didn’t want to see him quite that quickly – they’d only moved into the apartment over the weekend. She was hoping to have a little bit of time to settle in before trying to seek out her best friend, but it seemed fate wouldn’t have it that way. Going back out there was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew she had to at least to wait tables like she was supposed to. Finally, she gathered enough courage to go back out to the dining room, telling herself over and over that she shouldn’t be worried or nervous about anything.

“Lydia?” a familiar voice said after she’d been back out there a few minutes. After putting an empty tray down, she turned to the source of the voice and smiled at Arthur and his dad.

“Hi Mr. Curry,” she said with a smile, genuinely happy to see both men again. “Arthur.”

“The hell are you doing back here?” Arthur said with a grin before taking a swig of his beer.

“I decided it was time to move back,” Lydia answered, casually crossing her arms. “I don’t have anything back in Boston keeping me there, anyways.”

“How’s your mom doing?” Tom asked with a warm smile.

“Oh, well…” Lydia started, looking towards the floor. “She passed away last June. Cancer.”

“Oh, no, I’m so sorry,” Tom said, taking Lydia’s hand and squeezing it gently. Lydia just shrugged, not sure what to say. She didn’t like talking about her mom’s passing much because her Arthur and April didn’t really understand it.

“Well, how have you guys been?” she asked, leaning against the bar.

“Just the usual,” Tom answered, looking towards his son.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Arthur answered before taking another swig of beer.

“Still swimming much?” Lydia asked with a smirk. She couldn’t help herself – that was one of their favorite things to do together growing up. It was also when they realized that Lydia was different in the same way Arthur was different. She was half Atlantean, too, but she never knew who her father was, and her mother never wanted to tell her. Even Vulko, who trained both of them, didn’t know who her father was. He’d told her about a few options, seeing as she had bright red hair, but couldn’t be sure since the four remaining Atlantean nations were no longer peaceful with each other.

“You know it,” Arthur said, still grinning. “What about you?”

“Not as much as I used to.” Lydia shrugged before walking towards the end of the bar to go out to the dining area. “But I’ve got some work to do. We can catch up if you guys plan on sticking around for a while.”


	2. All in the Family

Over the next couple hours, Lydia talked to Arthur and his dad while she worked and she told them all about her life in Boston, and they told her about their lives while she was gone. She did leave out one important detail, though; she never mentioned her children to them. They would find out by the afternoon that she had kids, because she had it arranged with the school for them to ride the bus to the bar so she didn’t need a babysitter, but she figured that would be as good an introduction as any.

When the afternoon came and Lydia knew Arthur and April would be out of school, she began growing more nervous. She wasn’t sure what time the bus would be dropping him off, but she knew she would have a lot of explaining to do once Arthur and Tom met the kids. Her Arthur very strongly resembled his father, which she thought was both a blessing and a curse. April only resembled him by the color of her eyes – everything else was from her mother. The bus dropped them off a bit earlier than she was expecting, but it was almost time for her to take a break. When the door to the bar opened, Tom and Arthur both looked to see who’d entered and looked pretty surprised to see two little kids. Alternately, the kids looked pretty nervous to be there.

“Hey guys,” Lydia said to her kids as she walked up to him with a grin. She hugged April, then Arthur, before asking, “So, how was your first day?”

“I think I’m gonna like it here, mom,” Arthur replied with an equally wide grin, one that always reminded Lydia of his dad. “I already made two friends!”

“I wanna stay here forever!” April exclaimed proudly.

“Oh, that’s great bud!” Lydia said as she walked to the back of the restaurant with both kids. “I promise we’ll stay here for a long time, kiddo.” Their conversation died down as they left the dining room and Arthur and Tom were both watching them, totally taken by surprise that Lydia had a kid, much less two, and much less kids who were so old. When she came back out to the dining room a moment later, Arthur couldn’t help but watch her. She had a word with her manager before disappearing again, two Styrofoam cups in her hands. When she went back to the bar area finally, she tried not to look right at Arthur or Tom. If they wanted to know anything, they would have to ask her.

“You have kids?” Arthur asked nonchalantly before Lydia could make an escape from the bar. Lydia paused for a moment before walking back to Arthur and Tom’s seats.

“Yeah, I do,” she said with a small smile. Suddenly she felt much more confident in talking about little Arthur.

“They’re cute,” Tom said with a smile.

“Don’t let the cuteness fool you,” Lydia said. She couldn’t help but smirk again. “He’s got spunk. She has quite the mouth sometimes. They’re only seven, but that hasn’t stopped either of them from doing whatever they want. As long as it’s not something that’s gonna get them killed.”

“What’s their names?”

Lydia bit her bottom lip and looked down, trying to mentally prepare herself for the reactions she was about to get because of what she named her son.

“Well my daughter’s name is April,” she said, trying to muster the courage to tell them her son’s name. “My son… His name is Arthur,” she finished quietly, unable to bring herself to look at either man. “Don’t say a damn word, okay? I was sixteen, and I missed my best friend. I didn’t ever think I’d be back here again and thought it was a good idea at the time.”

Both men were silent for a while, and when she finally looked up at them Tom was smiling, and Arthur looked unphased.

“Awesome,” Arthur finally said with a grin.

“Did their dad not move here with you?” Tom asked, starting to look concerned.

“Oh…” Lydia trailed off, really not wanting to go into those details. “Their dad and I aren’t together anymore. He wasn’t even around when the twins were born. Never been a part of the kid’s life.”

Lydia could tell she was blushing madly, her face becoming hot. She didn’t want to talk about that part of her life. Talking about the kids was fine, but she never wanted to talk about their dad.

“They’re in second grade now, super smart, too. Loves to swim thankfully.”

“So, they’re like you?” Tom asked, sounding eager to learn more about little Arthur and April. Lydia nodded in response and smiled.

“That’s just about the only thing that makes either of them like me, though,” Lydia said with a small chuckle. “Except for April’s hair, of course. She doesn’t have as good a handle on her abilities as Arthur, either. And things from this world can hurt her, where they can’t hurt Arthur. Arthur’s pretty laid-back, but if you get him mad he’s quite a force to be reckoned with. April, she’s pretty similar, but definitely has a smarter mouth than Arthur.”

“Come have dinner with us tonight,” Tom said when no one else had anything to say. “Like old times. But, you know, with a small addition.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Lydia said with a smile. She looked over to Arthur and wondered why he’d been so quiet since she started talking about her kids, and he looked like he was thinking hard about something. She hoped he wasn’t thinking about what she thought he might be.

Later that afternoon, after Lydia got off work, she sat down with her kids to talk about what they were doing that night.

“Arthur, April, we’re gonna go have dinner with some people tonight,” she started after making them sit with her in the kitchen. “One of them is a very good friend of mine, and the other is his dad. So, make sure you’re on your best behavior while we’re there, okay?”

“Okay,” Arthur and April said together, smiling and completely unaware of how nervous their mom was.


	3. Revelations

When they reached the Curry residence – after finding one of the only cabs in town to take them there – Arthur and April were equally in awe. Neither of them had ever seen a real lighthouse before, or really knew what a lighthouse was, but to them it looked like a castle.

“I like this mom,” he said, holding her hand as they walked to the front door of the little house.

“It’s just like a castle,” April said, staring up at the top of the lighthouse.

“I thought you guys would like it,” Lydia said with a smile as they walked onto the porch. After knocking it took a moment, but Arthur was the one to answer the door.

“Hey,” he said, staring at Lydia before looking down at April the little Arthur. “What’s up, little dudes?”

“Good,” little Arthur said with a grin.

“I’m not a dude!” April said defiantly, making Lydia and Arthur laugh. Arthur started studying the much taller man in front of him, noticing the tattoos on his bare arms.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to one of Arthur’s arms.

“Tattoos,” Arthur answered, having never been one to beat around the bush, even with children. “Kinda cool, huh?”

The boy nodded and Arthur let them into the house, brushing up against Lydia’s arm as she walked through the threshold. He watched her with her kids, wondering if he would have a chance to be close to them. Something about them was drawing Arthur to them, but he thought it might just be because they had Atlantean blood in them.

“Hey guys,” Tom said when Lydia, April, and little Arthur walked into the kitchen. Arthur stayed back for a moment, listening to their conversation. His dad was asking Lydia about what she’d been doing the last six years, to which she told him about her time in Boston, having little Arthur and April at the end of her sophomore year of high school, graduating high school and immediately going to work to help take care of her mom’s finances because of her cancer. Little Arthur would interrupt every now and then, saying something about how old he was or how he was in Kindergarten. April would quickly follow what he said with something about their first day at school, or to tell Arthur to be quiet.

“Do you remember what I told you this place was called?” Lydia asked her kids when Arthur finally walked into the room. Little Arthur thought for a moment, and eventually shook his head. April only shrugged “This is a lighthouse. There’s this really, really big light at the top of the lighthouse that tells ships out in the ocean when they’re getting close to land, so they don’t run into any rocks or anything.”

“Cool,” Arthur said, still smiling.

“Can you get to the top?” April asked, mystified by the lighthouse. Lydia nodded and April looked even more excited.

“Do you wanna go up and see it later?” Tom asked the kids conspiratorially. They both nodded madly, already excited about seeing the top of the lighthouse.

While everyone ate, little Arthur and April entertained everyone with little stories here and there, and Lydia and Arthur remembered their childhood together. But the kids were eager to see the top of the lighthouse, so as soon as everyone was finished eating, Tom offered to take them up to the top.

“You don’t have to come unless you want to,” he said to Lydia when she started going up with them. “Not unless you want to.”

“Well, I guess I'll hang back,” Lydia said with a smile. “You good, kids?”

“Yeah,” they answered with a grin.

“Let’s go!” Arthur exclaimed.

Tom led the kids to the back of the house, where the entrance to the lighthouse was. Which meant she was alone with Arthur.

“Cute kids,” Arthur said, sitting at the cleaned off kitchen table.

“Thanks,” Lydia said sheepishly, also sitting. “They keep me on my toes, too.”

“Seems like it.”

Arthur looked over at Lydia, studying her while she wasn’t looking towards him. She hadn’t changed much, if at all, in eight years. If anything, she was more beautiful at that point than she had been in high school. When he’d graduated, he thought about going to Boston and trying to find her, but his dad talked him out of it. Told him that if Lydia wanted to stay in touch, she would.

“Why did you never call or anything?” Arthur finally asked, surprised with himself that the question sounded so hostile.

“I wanted to,” Lydia replied immediately, finally looking at him. “I swear I wanted to, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She kept tabs on the house phone. Hell, she even checked every piece of outgoing mail we had to make sure I wasn’t trying to send anything to you. If I could and get away with it, I would’ve. But I also had other things going on at that time. I had a kid. More than that, I had freaking twins. That isn’t exactly easy when you’re sixteen. And in a new school. If I’d been here-“ Lydia stopped there, looking down and hoping Arthur didn’t catch what she just said.

“Wait, what do you mean “if you’d been here”?” Arthur asked her, catching on to what she’d said immediately.

“Nothing.”

“That’s a damn lie.”

“Drop it, Arthur. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean? Why did your mom move to Boston? And I mean the truth. Yeah, you told me she got a better job or some bullshit like that, but that couldn’t have been the only thing that made her wanna move.”

“I said drop it. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Arthur and Lydia stared at each other, both starting to get angry. Arthur’s expression softened when he really looked at Lydia, realizing she felt pretty uncomfortable talking about when she moved away.

“Lydia, please,” he said, trying not to sound too angry. “I know there was something else that made your mom move you to Boston. Other than that job, and other than getting away from me. Which I still don’t understand that, either, but whatever.”

“If I told you, I’d probably have to leave again,” Lydia said after a long stretch of silence. “and I don’t want to do that to my kids. They seemed to both have a really good first day at school and I don’t want them to get used to being here and then just have to make them move again. They need more stability in their lives than that. So please, I would like to drop this particular conversation. It was hard enough for them to leave their friends in Boston. They’ve said they made friends already here, and it’s only day one.”

“I get that, but I think I do deserve an explanation. I never even got to tell you goodbye. Your mom and you just up and left. You don’t do that to your best friend.”

Lydia took a deep breath, finally looking back at Arthur. She could tell it had really hurt him when she left, since she never said a word to him about it until the day before she moved to Boston. But she couldn’t tell him her mom’s reason for wanting her out of there so quickly. At least, she was terrified to do that.

“Lydia, please,” Arthur said when she was still silent. “I need to know why your mom made you leave. And I know you know who your kids’ dad is, so you can’t try to tell me you don’t. And I know how to do the math. So why, what made your mom want to leave so bad?”

Lydia looked away from Arthur before stating, “My mom wanted me out of here because I was already pregnant when we moved.”

The silence between them after Lydia said that was the most awkward they’d ever felt around each other. Even though she didn’t say it, Arthur knew what she meant.

“Why would your mom want to keep her own grandchildren from their dad?” Arthur finally asked.

“You know she never liked me hanging around you,” Lydia answered, avoiding eye contact with Arthur. They were both silent again, neither very sure of what to say. Lydia jumped at the sound of Arthur’s chair scraping against the floor when he stood abruptly and watched him as he walked out of the room, jumping again when the front door slammed shut behind him.

Lydia sighed, having known that was probably how Arthur was going to react. Back when she was sixteen and found out she was pregnant, she remembered thinking how true the cliché “it only takes once” really was. They never even really dated, they were just friends. But all it took was one dumb high school party where someone snuck in alcohol.

After several minutes where Tom hadn’t brought the twins back down from the lighthouse yet, Lydia decided to go look for Arthur. She knew he probably hadn’t gone far; if he did, he’d have to make up some explanation to his dad why he was arguing with his used-to-be best friend. After opening the front door to the house, she looked out and saw him at the top of the pier, looking towards the ocean. She figured he would’ve been down at the dock where he would be closer to the ocean but was kind of glad he wasn’t.

“Arthur…” Lydia trailed off when she approached him, touching his arm gently. “Please talk to me.”

“I didn’t know,” he started, still staring out at sea. “I didn’t know that night would’ve resulted in this.”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting it, either,” Lydia pointed out. “But what was I supposed to do?”

Arthur looked at her then, and she knew what he was thinking about. He knew there could’ve been a way to prevent what happened once it had, but he also had to know that she wouldn’t do something so stupid. Eventually she leaned against the pier railing next to him, also staring out into the dark ocean.

“I would’ve told you about it you know,” she said when Arthur seemed to have nothing else to say. “If I had been a little older, I would’ve told my mom to stuff it and let me do what I want. But I was freaking sixteen. My mom still basically controlled my entire life at that point. Going against her would’ve meant I was out on the streets. You know how strict she was with me.”

“And you know if you’d just stuck up for yourself, we would’ve let you stay here if she ever even thought of kicking you out,” Arthur stated bluntly.

“Listen, you can’t be mad at me for something that happened almost a decade ago. We were both still basically kids then. Especially me.”

Arthur said nothing to this, and they fell into a mildly comfortable silence for a while, just watching the ocean with what little light the half-moon provided.

“So, you said they’re both like us?” he finally asked, glancing over to Lydia.

“It’s a little complicated,” Lydia answered with a sigh. “April can do everything I can, but she’s a bit more human than Atlantean. Things from this world can hurt her. She can still breathe underwater, but that’s about it. Arthur, on the other hand, is a lot like you. He can talk to the sea creatures.”

“Hm.”

After a moment Arthur looked to Lydia again, truly looking at her. She hadn’t noticed yet so was just staring out at the ocean. It was oddly comforting for her to be back, even with so many changes over the years.

“You plan on telling my dad about this?” Arthur asked. “’Cause he’d be thrilled to have grandkids.”

“I’ve been thinking about how I would tell him,” Lydia answered honestly. “But I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk to him about that?”

“He’d kill me,” Arthur said with a chuckle. “Then he’d call both of us stupid.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Lydia said with a fond smile.

“Mom!” little Arthur said from behind them, running towards them with April close behind. “This place is awesome!”

“Can we come here every day?” April asked eagerly, a huge grin on her face. Lydia raised an eyebrow at her twins and smiled at them.

“I’m not sure about that,” she answered once both kids were in front of her, “but I’m sure we’ll be over here sometimes.”

“Can we go to the end of the dock?” April asked, eyeing the dark ocean.

“Only if you promise not to go into the water.”

Both kids ran to the end of the dock while Tom approached his son and Lydia, smiling as he watched the children.

“Those two are something else,” he said to Lydia when he was right in front of them.

“Yeah that’s one way to describe them,” Lydia said as she watched them. “They don’t usually get along like this often. Kinda nice really.”

“I think I’ll go make sure they don’t try to swim away to explore or anything,” Tom said when he noticed his son looking at Lydia. It looked to him like Arthur needed to talk to her about something in private, so he walked to the end of the dock to play with the twins.


	4. The Kids

“So, I’m a dad,” Arthur said when his dad was out of ear shot. It seemed the weight of the situation was finally starting to sink in. “Damn.”

“Yeah,” Lydia said, feeling similarly about him finding out. “You know, I wasn’t planning on you finding out about this the first week we were here. I was gonna eventually find you to tell you, but I wasn’t really expecting to be telling you so soon.”

“I can believe that.” Arthur turned so he was leaning against the dock railing before asking, “So where are you guys living?”

“Those crappy apartments near the bar,” Lydia answered, trying not to voice her distaste for the place. “Not exactly where I wanna be, and the twins have to share a room, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Once we get everything squared away with my dad finding out and you telling the kids you should move in here,” Arthur said immediately. “Not that I’m around much – sometimes I try to do a few good things here and there – but I know dad would enjoy the company. He seems to like them.”

“You know I couldn’t possibly impose like that,” Lydia said without missing a beat. “That’s a pretty small house.”

“It’s got four bedrooms, though. Arthur and April wouldn’t have to share a room.”

It felt strange saying the kids’ names, and knowing they were his kids.

“The school bus doesn’t come way out here. I don’t even have a car.”

“There’s an extra truck sitting around here that still drives.”

“That piece of junk you used to drive?” Lydia asked with a smirk.

“That piece of junk was my baby,” Arthur said defensively. Lydia only chuckled, remembering how she used to ride to school with him every day when he got his driver’s license, having never been able to afford her own car. The truck was a stick shift and as old as Lydia.

“I can’t believe that truck still runs.”

“Yeah,” Arthur said, looking down at Lydia. “I took care of that thing, if you recall. Still do when I’m home.”

Lydia smiled up at Arthur, more than happy that they were able to continue their friendship like nothing had ever happened. She couldn’t help but stare at him for a moment, wondering how he ended up so handsome. Arthur caught her staring and smirked, but she didn’t look away despite the blush creeping up her cheeks. Neither could look away from the other, and Arthur leaned down, just to see what would happen. When he kissed her it didn’t last long, but she definitely kissed him back. That was enough for him to be adamant about them staying at the lighthouse for good.

“How about, I’m gonna go talk to my dad, explain the situation to him. Arthur and April can stay down at the dock if they want. Not sure if you wanted to be there when I tell my dad or not,” Arthur said when Lydia stayed silent.

“Um,” she started, her brain feeling like it short-circuited for a moment. “Yeah, sure.”

Arthur smirked again as he started walking down the dock, Lydia following him.

“Hold on,” Lydia said when they were about halfway down the dock. “If there’s only four bedrooms there’s not enough room for us.”

“Sure, there is,” Arthur said with a conspiratorial smile. “I can crash on the couch while I’m not saving people or something.”

“Do I want to stay in your bedroom?” Lydia asked sarcastically. Arthur shrugged, trying not to laugh at Lydia.

“Hey, dad,” Arthur said as he approached his father and the kids. “I need to talk to you for a minute.”

Tom furrowed his brow briefly but followed Arthur, leaving Lydia with the twins. They were dipping their feet in the water and splashing each other, laughing while they played. Lydia sat next to her daughter, sitting cross-legged to avoid getting splashed.

“Hey,” she said, bumping April’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you two.”

“Uh oh. We aren’t going home yet are we?” Arthur asked, sounding genuinely concerned that he would have to leave the lighthouse.

“No, bud, not yet,” Lydia said with a smile. “What I need to tell you guys is pretty important. I was kind hoping we’d be here longer before I told you about this, but now seems like a pretty good time.” Lydia looked to both of her children with a fond smile before continuing, “Part of the reason I wanted to move us here has to do with your father. I hope you two know that he would’ve been in your lives this whole time if he’d been able to.”

“We know, mom,” April said.

“Well, now you’ll get to be around your dad after all.”

“Really?” Arthur said, sounding both confused and excited.

“Yeah,” Lydia said with a nod, trying to find the right words to ease her children into this new information. But it felt as if there was no way to ease them into the situation. She would just have to tell them and hope they didn’t resent her for not telling them about their father before now. “Well, back when I still lived here, I was really good friends with Mr. Curry’s son, also named Arthur as you know. And, well, things just happen a certain way sometimes. Arthur Curry is your father, meaning that Mr. Curry is your grandfather, of course.”

Lydia was initially worried about the silence that followed what she told April and Arthur. They looked at each other, having one of those silent conversations they had sometimes, before looking at their mother. They both grinned and exclaimed, “Awesome!”

It was a huge relief to Lydia that they reacted as well as they did. As a family they didn’t have a lot of times where things were tense, or negative, so it was nice that they didn’t feel that way about that.

“There’s something else, too,” Lydia said after the three of them stood up, the twins practically bouncing with excitement. “Arthur’s offered to let us stay here, with him and your granddad. If both of them are okay with it.

“Yes!” little Arthur exclaimed as they started walking back towards the house, pumping his fist in the air.


	5. Convincing Them to Stay

As they were walking towards the house, Lydia saw Arthur and Tom talking on the front porch, and she was glad that Tom at least didn’t look angry about things. As they got closer to the house, Arthur noticed them walking, making Tom look as well. Lydia couldn’t help but look away from the older man, really hoping he wouldn’t be too mad about what brought along Arthur and April in the first place.

“Hey, you two come here,” Arthur said to the twins when everyone was on the porch. “I wanna show you something.”

He walked off the porch and the twins followed without question, already asking him if he was “like them” since their mom was, too. That left Lydia with Tom, but she only felt awkward for a moment.

“So those are my grandkids,” he said with a broad smile. Lydia only nodded, sitting next to him on the porch when he motioned for her to. “What in the world possessed your mom to make you move away instead of telling Arthur?”

“I’m not really sure,” Lydia answered with a shrug. “Other than the fact that she definitely didn’t like me hanging around him once we were teenagers. At the time I didn’t know why. At least, not until the twins came along.”

“You never knew how much he liked you?”

Lydia wasn’t sure why Tom seemed so surprised by this.

“We were best friends growing up. Of course I wasn’t expecting it.”

“So, are you gonna take up Arthur’s offer? I’d love it if those two could be around more. You, too, of course,” Tom said with a small smirk when Lydia gave him a sideways glance.

“The twins certainly like the idea. I’m still thinking about it.”

“He told me where you’re staying. You’d all be better off here.”

“How about, I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Deal.”

It wasn’t long until Lydia was trying to convince her kids it was time to go home since they had school in the morning, but they were reluctant to leave. It seemed they got along with Arthur much better than she’d anticipated.

“How’d you get here anyways?” Arthur asked her when her attempts at getting the kids to leave proved futile.

“Cab,” Lydia said sheepishly. “I really hate to ask, but would you or your dad mind driving us home? I know it’s inconvenient…”

“I have a better idea,” Arthur interjected. “If you’re up for it.”

“No,” Lydia argued, already knowing what he was going to offer. “We can’t stay here tonight. They have school in the morning. I’m not gonna make them get up at the crack ass of dawn to make the school bus across town in the morning. They have to get up early enough as it is.”

“You working tomorrow?” Lydia shook her head and Arthur continued, “Then borrow my truck to take them to school in the morning. I can take you to your place so you can get whatever you need to get, okay?”

Lydia but her lip, trying to make up her mind. She could tell the twins wouldn’t mind at all staying the night. But she’d only just reunited with Arthur. It didn’t feel right to just barge in on his and his dad’s life right off the bat like that.

“I’ll only do it if your dad is absolutely sure he wouldn’t mind us staying the night,” she finally answered. “Plus, it is getting pretty late. The twins should’ve been in bed thirty minutes ago.”

Arthur turned and asked his dad if he wouldn’t mind Lydia and the kids staying the night, and he said it was okay without hesitation. He was also busy telling the twins a story – particularly, the story Arthur’s mother used to tell him before she had to leave. Arthur gave Lydia a shit-eating grin at the affirmative answer, and she just rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“So, we going to get your stuff or what?” Arthur asked, that look still on his face.

“I guess,” Lydia finally gave in, still smiling. “But April and Arthur need to go to bed. I would wait until we got back to make them go to bed, but they’ve had a pretty busy evening.”

“I got this.”

Arthur went upstairs for a moment before coming back down with two t-shirts in his hands.

“Will this work?” he asked Lydia, tossing one of the shirts to her. She caught it and held it out in front of her, smirking at the rock band logo on it.

“I think so,” she said before turning to her kids. “Hey, we’re staying here tonight guys. Go get ready for bed.”

“What are we supposed to wear to sleep?” little Arthur asked. Lydia tossed the shirt in her hand to him and it landed on his head, making April laugh. Arthur tossed the other one to her and she caught it before studying it. It had the logo for Van Halen on the front.

“What’s Van Halen?” April asked, furrowing her brow at Arthur.

“It’s a band,” Lydia said before Arthur could go on some tangent about classic rock. “Now both of you, get ready for bed.”

“Come on, I’ll show you the bedrooms,” Arthur said as the twins stood up to follow him. “No more sharing a room.”

Both twins looked relieved to have separate rooms, even if they weren’t their own rooms – yet. Lydia watched after them as they followed Arthur upstairs and talked animatedly about anything and everything.

“Do I need to go grocery shopping now?” Tom asked Lydia in an amused tone. “If those two eat like Arthur did at that age, I’m gonna need a bigger fridge.”

“Trust me, they can eat for sure,” Lydia said with a smirk. “I’ll bring a few things with me when I go to get a few of our things. Arthur has to have strawberry milk every morning. It’s been his ritual since he was three. Both of them love pancakes, too, but they had that this morning.”

“So, you ready to go?” Arthur asked Lydia, having already come back downstairs.

“That was quick,” Lydia said in surprise. Are you sure they’re actually going to bed?”

Arthur only shrugged as he walked past her to grab the keys to his truck.

“Let me check to make sure they’re actually gonna go to bed then we can go.”


	6. Old Feelings Resurface

The ride to Lydia’s apartment was silent except for her giving Arthur the directions. She suddenly felt awkward around him again, but she wasn’t sure why. It didn’t help that she kept stealing glances to look at him. She knew he wasn’t this handsome the last time they saw each other.

“Does Vulko still come around?” Lydia asked when they were almost to the apartment.

“Not really,” Arthur answered with a shrug. “Pretty sure he figured once I became an adult I didn’t need any training anymore. You remember any of that training we did with him?”

“Of course I do. I just wish I had a weapon like you did. Then I could’ve done a little more training.”

“Yeah, well I don’t think we’re gonna need to use that training any time soon.”

“True.”

Lydia glanced over at Arthur again, catching him doing the same.

“You should really be watching the road ya know.”

Arthur snorted out a laugh, looking back over to Lydia for a moment.

“So, you can get away with staring, but I can’t?”

“I wasn’t staring.”

Arthur could see right through her words; it didn’t help that she was blushing madly, too. Lydia looked out the passenger window to try and prove that she was never staring but found herself looking over at him again.

“See,” Arthur said triumphantly. “Can’t keep your eyes off me.”

“Well I see someone hasn’t lost any of their ego,” Lydia retorted with a mischievous smile.

They’d reached the apartment by then and Lydia led Arthur up to it, not even daring to try and look back at him. As she entered, it certainly didn’t feel like home to her. It was still too unfamiliar to be considered a home yet. Going into the kitchen, she turned on the light over the table and turned to face Arthur.

“I’m gonna grab the kids’ clothes real quick,” she said before walking past him again into the hallway. She decided it would be best to get two outfits for each of them, just in case. She went and set them on the kitchen table before going back down the hallway to her room. She grabbed a change of clothes for herself and a few other essentials she would need the next morning before going into the small bathroom to grab a few other essentials for her and the twins. She wasn’t really thinking about what she was doing, and suddenly thought about needing something to carry everything in. This made her go back to her bedroom and dig out a duffel bag from her closet, but what she wasn’t expecting was for Arthur to be right behind the closet door when she closed it.

“Jesus, Arthur, you trying to give me a heart attack?” she asked him after bumping into him. He tried to hide the smirk on his face but was unsuccessful.

“I was actually gonna see if you wanted some help,” he said in an amused tone. “Wasn’t trying to scare you, I swear.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow at him, finally making eye contact. Suddenly she was hyper aware of the fact that she never backed away from him when she initially ran into him, but she stayed rooted to the spot. He was simply staring at her unabashedly, and she couldn’t find it in her to look away from him, either.

“You have no idea how much I missed you after you left,” Arthur said in a low voice, as if he were trying to make sure no one else could hear him despite the rest of the apartment being empty.

“I know,” Lydia responded in an equally quiet tone, finally looking away from Arthur’s eyes to stare into his chest. “I missed you, too. My time in Boston, at least those last few years of high school, were some of the hardest years of my life. A big part of that was being ripped away from my best friend when I needed him most.”

“We would’ve been more than friends if you’d stayed and you know that.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.”

Lydia looked up at Arthur again to see a smile tugging at his lips and Lydia couldn’t help but do the same.

“You’re my girl,” he continued, gently placing his hands on her hips. He stepped forward just slightly, closing the gap between them.

“I hated myself for allowing my mother to make me leave,” Lydia said, looking away again. “If I’d fought against her wishes just a little bit harder, I probably could’ve stayed, even if that meant getting kicked out of the house.”

“I’m just glad you came back.”

Arthur placed a finger under Lydia’s chin, slowly raising her head to make her meet his eyes. She’d forgotten how his eyes were such a strange color – not quite hazel, not quite green, but somewhere in the middle.

“I’ve always loved your eye color,” Lydia said, her nervousness making her want to ramble. “April has the same color. Once I knew her eyes would be that color it bothered me for a while, but eventually I was able to get over it.”

“And what about Arthur?”

“He has my eyes.”

“How many people in his life have tried to tell him they’re blue?” Arthur asked with a small chuckle, knowing full well that if his son had the same eye color as his mother, they were not blue but gray.

“Too many,” Lydia said, also chuckling. “When he was five or six, he used to get so defensive over it. It was actually very cute to watch.”

They stood in silence again, just enjoying the other’s company even if they were standing a little closer than they should’ve been. Arthur bent down slowly and let his lips brush against Lydia’s. She gripped his arms to keep her balance, their height difference making it hard for her to stand straight. Arthur kissed her a little more forcefully, practically lifting Lydia up so she was standing on her toes.

“Ya know, the only thing that ever bothered me about you is how goddamn short you are,” Arthur said in a teasing tone after the kiss. Lydia gasped in fake anger, lightly hitting his chest before smiling at him.

“I can’t help I’m from a family of short people,” she retorted, moving her arms so she had them around his neck. “And how do you think I feel having to crane my neck so much just to look at you properly?”

Arthur held back a laugh and shrugged before Lydia noticed a mischievous glint in his eye.

“There is one way to displace the height difference,” he said suggestively, holding onto Lydia a little tighter. She raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious of what he had planned even though she knew exactly what he was thinking about. Without warning he hoisted her up and turned towards the bed, eliciting a small yelp from Lydia from the sudden jerk. He gently settled her onto the middle of the bed, effectively trapping her there by straddling her.

“You know I saw that coming,” Lydia said with an uncontrolled grin after Arthur kissed her again.

“That yelp told me you weren’t,” Arthur said with a triumphant smirk. Lydia rolled her eyes at him before putting a hand on the back of his neck and pulling him to her for another kiss. She let herself get lost in the familiar sensation, but eventually had to pull away because of one unfamiliar sensation – Arthur’s hair. It had grown quite a bit since the last time they found themselves together like that and was tickling her neck.

“I guess I know how you feel with me leaning over you now,” she said, unable to wipe the stupid grin from her face as she attempted to move Arthur’s hair out of her way. Arthur couldn’t help but lower himself closer to her as he rested against his forearms, full-on belly laughing at her. When he looked at her again, she had a sour look on her face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his laughing only just dying off his lips. “I’m promise I’m not laughing at you. I just thought what you said was pretty funny. And true, if you’re curious.”

Lydia shook her head before giggling, having held back her own laugh once he’d started. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled so much in such a short period of time. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Arthur smile as much as he was then.

“You know, you should smile more often,” she said before Arthur could start kissing her again. “I get that you have a bad boy reputation to hold up, but it wouldn’t kill ya to look like you were a halfway pleasant person some of the time. The broody face can get old.”

“’Broody face’?” Arthur asked, finding Lydia’s words funny again as he chuckled. “Never heard it called that before, but okay. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna be lookin’ all happy and shit all the time.”

Lydia smirked and was about to say something else, but Arthur stole her breath away with another kiss. But this time, it was a deeper kiss and more passionate than the others. There were feelings behind the kiss that neither had felt in several years. He took a chance and let himself rest against her body and she inhaled deeply, trying to hold back everything that one simple move made her feel. Arthur continued to kiss her and reached one hand down to her waist, lifting the hem of her shirt to caress the bare skin of her waist. It made her breath hitch, and Lydia felt the need to break the kiss in order to catch her breath, but Arthur only broke away from her for a second. He continued to move his hand up her torso, taking her shirt with it. Suddenly a cell phone started going off and made Lydia jump and accidentally headbutt Arthur. He sighed in defeat and sat up, hoping that whatever interrupted them was important. He barely looked at the screen before answering the call.


	7. Old Feelings Die Hard

“Hello?” he said, his voice gruff. He sat against his heels to make sure he didn’t crush Lydia and ran a hand across his face as he listened to whoever had called. “Alright, we’ll be back pretty soon. I’ll tell her.”

Arthur hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed next to him, sighing in frustration. He looked down at Lydia and just wanted to take in her looks for a moment, but the concerned look on her face told him she would ask what that phone call was about if he didn’t say something.

“That was my dad,” he said as he swung his leg over hers to sit on the bed beside her. “He said Arthur woke up, had a bad dream or something.”

“Oh, god, I hope it isn’t night terrors again,” Lydia said after sitting up and bringing her knees to her chest. “Poor kid still struggles with that sometimes.”

“I guess that means we gotta head back?”

“Yes, Arthur, that means we have to go back.”

Lydia smirked as she got off the bed and gathered her things into the duffel bag on the floor, glancing back at Arthur suggestively as she left the room to finish packing. He chuckled as he followed her into the kitchen and followed her instructions on what food and drink to bring along.

On the way back to the house they had the radio turned up, singing – pretty badly – to classic rock. As soon as they got back Lydia was in mom mode immediately, going to the room little Arthur was in to make sure he was alright. It was only a few minutes before she was back downstairs and noticed Arthur had brought everything inside for her.

“Thank you,” she said to him with a warm smile.

“What time do the twins go to school in the morning?” Arthur asked as he followed Lydia into the kitchen.

“I’ll probably have to leave not long after seven. Hope you and your dad mind that I’ll be up about 5am,” Lydia said, turning to Arthur after putting the food they brought away. Arthur raised his eyebrows at her like she was crazy.

“I know I won’t be awake then,” he said, shaking his head. “But as long as no one wakes me up I’m good.”

“Right, you said you’d be sleeping on the couch.” Lydia smirked as she walked past him to get her bag with her clothes in it. “So, you gonna show me where I’m gonna be sleeping or what?”

“Right this way.”

Arthur’s bedroom wasn’t much different than when Lydia lived in Amnesty Bay the first time. Which meant it was pretty plain and bare. She never understood how he could just stare at blank walls when they were teenagers – she had all sorts of posters in her bedroom that she would be ashamed of now as an adult.

“You know I couldn’t possibly let you sleep on that tiny couch downstairs,” Lydia said after digging her pajamas out of her bag. “You’re, like, twice as big as that thing.”

“You’re not sleeping on it either,” Arthur interjected. “You’re a guest, and guests don’t sleep on the couch.”

“Then what do you suggest we do about this predicament?”

Lydia had a playful smile on her lips as she watched Arthur pretend to think for a moment.

“I dunno, man,” Arthur said, playing dumb on purpose. “I mean, we could both sleep in here but that’s a little inappropriate, don’t you think?”

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time,” Lydia said with a sly smile, one eyebrow raised. “I mean, you go ahead and be uncomfortable all night. But I wouldn’t kick you out of here or anything.”

Arthur chuckled as he walked towards Lydia, but she held a hand out to stop him.

“I need to change. So, if you don’t mind…” She gestured toward the door, and Arthur looked at the door, then at her with a goofy grin.

“As you said, it wouldn’t be the first time,” he mocked, standing his ground. Lydia just rolled her eyes and turned so she wasn’t facing him anymore, nowhere near afraid of changing clothes in front of him.

“You know, you haven’t changed much in eight years,” Lydia commented as she was changing, glancing back at Arthur. Who was staring at her without even trying to hide it.

“Could say the same to you,” he said. “Except for having those kids now, of course.”

Lydia smirked when she turned to face him, putting her hands on her hips.

“If anything, those two made me a hell of a lot better person than I used to be. I probably would’ve ended up dead in a ditch somewhere if it wasn’t for them.”

Silence engulfed the room, and Lydia suddenly had no clue what to say to Arthur. She furrowed her brow at him when he started walking towards her, eventually stopping right in front of her.

“This is probably gonna make me sound ridiculous,” he started, taking Lydia’s hands. “But now that you’re back, I wanna tell you. I… I loved you, Lydia. It took me years, and too many girlfriends to realize it, but I did. And I was going to tell you before you left for Boston. But for some reason I never could. I don’t know if I thought it would make me look weak, or what. But I wish I’d told you.”

Lydia looked away from Arthur, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself down. That wasn’t a confession she was expecting from him. But she was glad he’d felt the same. She felt ridiculous trying not to cry, but she couldn’t help it.  
“Thank you,” she said with a smile, “for telling me. I’m sorry.” Lydia took a step back and wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to compose herself. “I feel so stupid.”

Arthur pulled her into a hug and chuckled.

“Don’t,” he said, holding her close. “I just wish I’d told you that sooner.”

Lydia nodded in agreement and stepped away from Arthur again.

“I need to get some sleep if the twins are gonna get to school on time tomorrow,” she said, walking towards the bed. She wasn’t entirely sure what Arthur was going to do, but she wasn’t expecting to feel disappointed when Arthur left her alone.

Arthur went downstairs to clear his head for a while. Seeing Lydia again felt like getting punched in the gut – at first. In the years after she left Amnesty Bay, he admittedly had gotten into some stupid stuff at first. He never would’ve admitted that it was because Lydia was gone, but his father knew better. Two years after she left, it took him getting into a situation that should’ve gotten him killed to make his dad finally bitch him out enough to get the point across that he needed to man up and move on with his life. That’s when he started helping people. At first it was little things – saving a person from drowning out at sea during a storm, rescuing a kid from a rip tide, things like that. But it wasn’t long after that that people started recognizing him more for what he was doing. He started seeing himself on the news for saving a research team among the icebergs of the North Atlantic or saving a fishing vessel off the coast of Alaska. He was surprised that Lydia hadn’t said anything about seeing him on the news – eventually everything about his was on the national news, and that’s when he was dubbed the “Aquaman.”

Close to one in the morning, Arthur finally decided to go to bed. Despite how forward he’d been earlier, he was nervous about being so close to Lydia, especially so soon after seeing her again. She probably knew he was nervous about it, too – she had a way of knowing exactly what he was thinking even with his outgoing personality. After going upstairs, he paused at the door to his bedroom, close to changing his mind and sleeping downstairs. He shook his head, wondering why he was acting like a teenager with his first girlfriend, and opened the door. He wasn’t expecting Lydia to be awake, but she was reading a book by the light of the small lamp in the room.

“Finally decided to sleep in your own room, huh?” she said with a smirk when she noticed him, marking her place in her book and setting it in her lap. Arthur shrugged, unable to stop the smile forming on his lips. He moved to close the door but thought better of it.

“What happened to going to sleep because you need to be up early?” Arthur asked with a small smirk as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lydia answered simply. “I’ll be okay getting the twins up, though.”

Lydia could tell Arthur was unsure of himself, and that rarely happened with him when they were younger. She watched him as he stood up and went to the small dresser in the opposite corner of the room. She looked away when he started changing clothes, wondering if he was purposefully messing with her because he knew she would probably end up staring at him. Instead of staring, she tried to continue reading her book, but eventually couldn’t help stealing a glance. Of course he was going to be sleeping beside her with no shirt.

“Ya know, if you’re trying to mess with me it won’t work,” Lydia said, going back to her book.

“Who said I was?” Arthur asked in a mischievous tone. Lydia could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks as he sat close to her in the bed and she tried to stay focused on her book. Why did he have to be so distracting?

“You didn’t used to be so annoyingly distracting,” Lydia said with a sly smile.

“Well, you just said I am, not me,” Arthur quipped. When he spoke next, he was right by Lydia’s ear. “But if you think I’m being distracting, then I guess I’m doing something right.”

Lydia turned to look at him slowly, her nervousness growing when she realized his face was inches from hers. She looked him in the eye and smirked, a plan forming in the back of her mind. Setting her book down slowly, she turned her body to face Arthur fully. She leaned forward, like she was going to kiss him, and he fell for it easily. Just before their lips made contact, Lydia grabbed his arms and jumped on top of him, pinning him down.

“What the hell?” Arthur said as Lydia started laughing.

“I knew you were gonna fall for that,” she said.

“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be?”

Arthur had a determined look in his eye, and Lydia knew she probably should’ve been worried about that. Before she even had time to think he had her pinned down and she glared at him.

“Not fair,” she said with a fake pout. “You’re way stronger than me.”

“You started it,” Arthur retorted. He let go of Lydia’s arms and she crossed her arms, still fake pouting. Arthur sat up, still straddling her, and had a cocky grin on his face. “You should know by now that I’m gonna beat you in a fight.”

“You wish.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Well not right now. It’s after one in the morning. I have to be up soon.”

They just stared at each other, Arthur still with that cocky grin and Lydia smirking at him. She suddenly sat up and Arthur lost his balance but was able to roll back over onto the bed. He chuckled at Lydia, now sitting up beside him and she was grinning at him. Without warning he sat up and tackled her, but instead of falling back on the bed Lydia tried to dodge him and they both landed in the floor with a hard thud.

“Ow,” Lydia said through laughing. Arthur was laughing, too, but he was worried he’d hurt her since he landed right on top of her.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you,” he said through his laughing. Lydia just shook her head as her laughing died down, and just stared at Arthur. She hadn’t expected to be right back where they were before she left Amnesty Bay, but she was glad they were able to pick up where they left off.

Suddenly Arthur bent down and kissed her, making her gasp in surprise. This gave him the opportunity to kiss her even deeper, tangling one hand in her hair. She rested her hands on either side of his ribs, but she was also losing her breath quickly.

When Arthur finally broke the kiss, he immediately picked up Lydia and set her on the bed gently, climbing on top of her. When she stopped him from kissing again, he gave her a confused and slightly hurt look.

“If this goes any further,” Lydia said, sounding breathless. “I don’t want the same thing happening as last time. If you know what I mean.”

Arthur nodded in understanding and reached over to the nightstand drawer.

“Got you covered,” he said with a vicious smirk.


	8. Parenting

The sound of the guitar riff from “Carry on Wayward Son” at a ridiculous volume jerked Arthur awake in the morning. For a moment he forgot that there was even another person in the bed with him, much less that the person was Lydia.

“Sorry,” Lydia said, a groggy tone to her voice. “Guess I should’ve made sure I had the volume turned down a little bit.”

Arthur grunted in reply, turning on his side to face Lydia as she got out of bed. She walked out of the room silently and a second later light from other bedrooms filtered into the hallway. Arthur listened as she tried to coax her children awake and looked out the window, realizing it was still dark outside.

Lydia made her way downstairs after making the twins get up, hoping there was coffee in the house somewhere. After looking in a couple cabinets, she found the coffee and started making it. While she stood at the coffee maker she listened for any sounds of little Arthur and April getting up, but she wasn’t expecting the significantly heavier footsteps that were coming down the stairs. After starting the coffee maker, she turned to see Arthur walking into the kitchen looking very unhappy to be awake so early.

“I really am sorry for waking you up,” she said when Arthur walked over to her.

“’S okay,” Arthur mumbled, leaning against the counter. He pulled Lydia close to him and she fell into the hug easily, relaxing against him and closing her eyes.

“Ewww, moo-o-oom,” little Arthur’s voice came from the other side of the kitchen and Lydia opened her eyes while she tried not to laugh at the look of disgust on the younger twin’s face.

“What?” April asked from behind her brother, stopping beside him and rubbing her eyes. Lydia pried herself off of Arthur before April could react similarly – they would want to eat some breakfast, after all. “Arthur, that’s not gross. Kissing is gross. But not hugs.”

“Oh, whatever,” little Arthur said, sitting at the small kitchen table. “Still gross.”

“Arthur,” Lydia chided, turning away from the open fridge to give her son a hard look. “Please, not this early.”

April stuck her tongue out at Arthur when their mom’s back was turned.

“You, too, April,” Lydia said, not even looking away from the contents of the fridge. “You guys just want some cereal or something?”

“Hold up,” Arthur said from his spot next to the coffee maker. He opened a nearby cabinet and pulled out a box of Lucky Charms and Fruity Pebbles. “Here.” He walked to the table and set the cereal boxes down in front of the kids, and they immediately went to the one that was set down right in front of them.

“Should’ve figured something like that would be around here somewhere,” Lydia said in a teasing tone as she walked past Arthur. He only shrugged, too tired to debate on why a grown man would still enjoy the sugary cereals. “Where are the coffee mugs?”

“Here,” Arthur said, reaching over Lydia to a cabinet and brushing against her back. She gave him a warning look, wanting to keep the physical contact to a minimum around the twins at least for a little while. If they were to move into the Curry residence, she wanted them to be eased into the fact that they would be having both parents around, and in a romantic relationship. Looking around Arthur, April was giving them a huge grin, while little Arthur looked rather uncomfortable.

“Cut it out,” she said under her breath to Arthur, her back still to the kids while she poured herself some coffee. “Please. Just for now.”

“Fine,” Arthur said after taking the coffee pot from her, leaning against the counter again.

While the kids were eating breakfast, Lydia stayed beside Arthur and watched her children. She wasn’t sure how they would do with these sudden changes in the long run; on one hand, they were both mature enough to understand the situation, and why Lydia would choose to move them to the lighthouse, but on the other hand she knew they would start asking questions about why they’d never met their father before, or even worse if he wasn’t around from the beginning because he didn’t want to be. It seemed that her original plan to ease into introducing them to Arthur and his father flew out the window when she first saw the two in the bar the previous day.

“After I get back from taking them to school you and me need to sit down and talk,” Lydia said to Arthur after thinking about the situation at hand. “I need to know exactly what you’re expecting out of all of this, and I feel like I need to tell you what I’m expecting about all of this, too.”

“Oh no, it isn’t gonna be the break up talk, is it?” Arthur said, elbowing Lydia and smirking.

“I’m serious for once,” Lydia said, looking up at him. “I need to know that we’re on the same page with everything before getting them into a situation I couldn’t easily get out of.”

“You’re saying you don’t think I’d stick around?”

Lydia knew she was going to aggravate Arthur by bringing up something that serious, but she also wanted to make sure her kids weren’t gonna get hurt any time soon.

“Don’t even try to get mad at me about this,” she argued. “Especially right now.”

After breakfast, Lydia made April and little Arthur get dressed in their own rooms while she went to get her own change of clothes. They would probably take forever getting ready and argue over the room in front of the bathroom mirror while brushing their teeth, but that was why she made them get up so early. Once she was upstairs, it wasn’t long until Arthur also went back into the bedroom. He still didn’t look very happy about their conversation in the kitchen.

“You seriously shouldn’t be taking what I said in the kitchen so personally,” Lydia pointed out after she was fully dressed. “I mean, this is literally the fourth day I’ve been back here. All this change is a lot to take in, and I know it’s worse for the twins than it is for me. I at least know a little bit about this place, but they’ve never even been in the state of Maine until now.”

“Are you sure all you’re worried about is how they deal with the change?” Arthur asked in an accusing tone. “Cause that’s not how it sounded.”

Lydia gave him a deadpan look before walking over to where he was sitting on the bed, standing in front of him so he couldn’t move out of the way.

“Listen, you know if I agreed to let my children–”

“Your children?”

“Hush. If I agreed for the three of us to stay here last night, then I’m obviously not gonna fight with you about whether or not you and your dad are gonna be part of their lives. And if what we did last night wasn’t any indication, I plan on sticking around with you for a while. Most likely as more than friends. But that part is honestly up to you at this point. That’s why I wanted to be able to sit down and talk while the kids aren’t here.”

Arthur looked up to Lydia as she stood there, and without really thinking he wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll talk when you get back. I guess it couldn’t hurt to know what exactly’ll be going on from here on out.”

“Thank you,” Lydia said with a smile before kissing him again. “So, you first official dad duty is to make sure those two actually brush their teeth instead of arguing about who’s in the way more.”

Arthur leaned his head into her in defeat, giving her a pleading look after standing up before smiling.

“This ought to be fun.”

As Arthur walked towards the bathroom, he could already hear the twins arguing.

“What are you arguing about?” he asked them casually, leaning against the door frame.

“She’s in my way!” little Arthur whined, elbowing April away from the bathroom sink.

“Stop pushing me!” April almost shouted, glaring at her brother.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the twins, not sure how to handle the situation. Looking back towards the bedroom, he noticed Lydia watching him from the doorway with a smirk.

“Switch places,” he offered to the kids. “Or take turns. I dunno.”

“He came in here after me!” April complained.

Lydia decided it was time to intervene and came up to Arthur, blocking the bathroom doorway as she looked in at the twins.

“Alright,” she said in an authoritative voice. “You two need to cut it out, or no tv or video games for a week.”

“Mom!” little Arthur argued. “Not fair!”

“I’m serious.”

“But I was here first!” April defended herself.

“Okay, then finish up. Arthur, stop pushing your sister and April, don’t yell at your brother again. You two have to sit next to each other on the way to school and I’m not gonna listen to you arguing the whole way there.”

Lydia started walking away from the bathroom as the twins started complaining, shaking her head. School mornings were always a battle with them.

“Ya know, if you listen to your mom, I might convince her to let me take you swimming after you get out of school,” she heard Arthur say to them, when he probably thought she was out of ear shot. “She told me you both like to swim.”

She couldn’t hear what either kid said, but by the tone of their voices they sounded pretty happy about an opportunity to swim later.

 

After taking the twins to school, Lydia stopped by their apartment to grab swimming gear for them before going back to the lighthouse. She’d noticed Tom going to the end of the dock as they were leaving for the school, when the sun was coming up and made a mental note to ask Arthur about it. When she got back, Arthur was on the front porch waiting for her.

“I figured you might try to go back to sleep after getting woken up at 5am,” Lydia said to him, stopping so she was right in front of him.

“Nah,” Arthur said with a wave of his hand. “I been thinking. About what you said earlier.”

“Oh?”

Lydia walked around him and into the house to put her things up in Arthur’s bedroom for the time being. When she got back downstairs, Arthur was sitting on the couch, waiting for her.

“So, what have you been thinking about?” she asked him after sitting next to him.

“Well, I think I’m just gonna let you run things. Of course I want to be here for the twins for good. I know you’re not questioning that part. Whatever you say, goes.”

“Sounds pretty good to me,” Lydia said with a shrug. “My only request is that the three of us don’t just barge in here and move in yet. I’d like for them to get the hang of things first. Get used to their school and stuff. Then we can think about moving.”

Arthur nodded in agreement, then got a more serious look on his face.

“So, I’ve got some stuff I gotta do,” he said when he noticed Lydia’s concerned look. “And I’m gonna be gone for a while. Few weeks at most. It’s this deal of saving people.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Probably tomorrow. I did promise the twins I’d take them swimming after school and I’m keeping my word on that.”


	9. Memories

After Lydia picked up the twins from school, they went to change into their swimsuits immediately.

“You sure you don’t wanna come?” Arthur asked Lydia as he changed into his own swimwear, despite not really wanting to.

“I’m sure,” Lydia said, crossing her arms. “I’m just gonna read a book or something.”

Arthur just shrugged before leaving the room, calling the kids’ names to see if they were ready yet. Lydia heard both of them running down the stairs while she got her book out of her purse and headed downstairs herself.

“You guys be careful!” she called after them as they went outside, and she sat on the couch.

Eventually Lydia couldn’t concentrate on her book anymore and went to find Tom. She felt like they should probably talk about everything that had happened the last couple days. She eventually found him in the little office at the other end of the house, closest to the actual lighthouse.

“Hey Mr. Curry,” she said when he finally looked up at her.

“You’re old enough to just call me Tom now, you know,” he said with a friendly smile. Lydia just shrugged as she sat in the chair across from him.

“It feels good to be back here,” Lydia started, a little unsure of what she really wanted to say.

“I know Arthur’s happy to see you. And so am I.”

Lydia shifted in her seat uncomfortably, eventually asking, “How was he when I left?”

Tom looked away from her for a while, like he had to think hard about how to answer her question.

“He was hurt,” he started, finally looking at Lydia. “It took a couple years for him to really get his head on straight. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t end up in jail or dead a few times.”

“What do you mean?”

“He got into the wrong crowd, really. I think it was his way of trying to forget you had even existed. A couple years after you left, he got into a really bad situation. Ended up in a fight that should’ve gotten him killed. Honestly, you can ask him for the details if you want to.”

“What made him stop?”

“For me, that was the last straw. I finally sat him down and told him that if he didn’t get his life together, there would be nothing left for him. It wasn’t long after that, he started helping people. It was little things at first. But that’s what he’s gonna be gone for when he leaves tomorrow. I don’t know where he gets the intel from, but he’s gotten to the point where he’s saved a couple military vessels out of sticky situations, been against a few pirates here and there.”

“Oh. Wow.”

Lydia was surprised to hear that Arthur had actually let himself go like that.

“So, the twins…”

“What about them?” Lydia asked, furrowing her brow and leaning her head to the side slightly.

“You know, they look a hell of a lot like their dad,” Tom said with a smile. Lydia couldn’t help but smile, too.

“Yeah, they do. Well, except April’s hair.”

“So, I guess you told them everything?”

“Of course. I’m not gonna keep them guessing about their family like that. I mean, they do think it’s pretty neat that their grandad owns a lighthouse.”

“Yeah, they were fascinated by everything,” Tom said with a chuckle.

“So, how does it feel? Knowing you have grandchildren?”

“It’s nice. And honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be the mother of my grandchildren.” Lydia blushed madly and was about to protest, but Tom continued, “If you hadn’t moved away, I think Arthur would’ve settle down by now. I mean, especially those couple years before you moved, he wouldn’t shut up about you.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Lydia asked, trying not to smile at the thought.

“Nope. I don’t know why he never said anything to you.”

“Me neither. He certainly hid those feelings well enough. How many girlfriends did he have before I started high school, like twelve in two years?”

“Sounds about right,” Tom said with a chuckle. “I could barely keep up with the names of those girlfriends. They never lasted long. I think he was comparing them to you, honestly.”

“I guess it felt weird to him to think he had romantic feelings for someone he basically grew up with.”

“That’s my guess, too.”

“There was one girl I remember very well, man what was her name?” Lydia said, leaning back in her seat. “I think it was Veronica or something. She absolutely hated water.”

“Oh yeah,” Tom said, shaking his head and smiling. “It was Veronica. That was the summer after his freshman year. I don’t know what he saw in her.”

“She wasn’t even that nice!” Lydia exclaimed with a giggle.

“I’m pretty sure she didn’t know how to swim, either.”

“Seriously?”

Tom nodded, trying not to laugh himself.

“And there was another one I think my freshman year of high school that hated me,” Lydia said, suddenly remembering things from her teenage years she hadn’t thought of in ages. “Yeah, it was my freshman year, ‘cause Arthur insisted on walking me to my classes, and that girl took serious offense over that for some reason.”

“Oh, I remember her,” Tom said in distaste. “Pretty sure that one was Jennifer. Arthur brought her over here two times. And every time, when he or I would start saying something about you, she would get so angry. By the second time she came here, I did it just to piss her off.”

Lydia laughed along with Tom, remembering the last encounter she had with Jennifer before Arthur stopped dating her.

“Right before Arthur broke up with her, she actually confronted me at school one day,” Lydia said, more than willing to recount the tale to Tom. “She tried to act nice at first, but she didn’t have me fooled. I was a pretty ballsy fifteen-year-old, so I just told her outright what she was pissed about. She threatened to “cut me” if I went near Arthur again. But I just argued that I was his best friend and she couldn’t do a thing to me without there being serious consequences.”

“Arthur told me she’d threatened you,” Tom said, a more serious look on his face. “I told him right then to leave that girl if she felt so threatened to have you around.”

“Well then thank you for having my back.”

“Did it for ten or so years.”

“How did Arthur tell you that he had feelings for me?” Lydia finally asked, having thought about the question for most of the conversation.

Tom was silent for a while, wanting to pick his words carefully. That conversation between him and his son had been one he’d expected, but he hadn’t expected Arthur to be so absolutely smitten at that point.

“It was one of those rare occasions you weren’t over for dinner on a weekend,” he started, leaning his arms on his desk. “Right at the beginning of his senior year. You two had gone to a football game the night before. He waited till about halfway through dinner, and finally he asked me what made me realize I’d fallen in love with his mother.”

Lydia gave him a sad smile before he continued, “And I told him, that what really drew me to her was how genuine she was. I mean, after getting over the learning curve of being in a world she’d never been in before. And I realized I loved his mother after really getting to know her. She was an amazing woman.” He paused for a moment before going on, “Then, he told me he thought he might’ve found a girl he really loved. But he didn’t know how to tell her. So, I made him tell me about the qualities of this girl that made him think he was in love. He started out with the easy stuff, the stuff most people see on the surface. That she was beautiful, and kind, and cared about other people – and animals – and had a great personality, all that.

“By then I’d figured out he was talking about you. But I needed to know for sure before I gave him some solid advice. I said you know, dig a little deeper than what everyone else sees. I asked him what exactly it was about this girl that made her stand out from all the others in the world. I don’t think he really wanted to get into such a serious conversation with me about something like that, but I told him I wouldn’t have any good advice if I didn’t know exactly what he thought. Finally, he told me that the girl “didn’t take no shit” from anyone, even though she’d been bullied a lot in her life, and that something in his head just clicked finally the last time he saw her. He said that she wasn’t superficial about things, she always told him like it was, never sugar-coated a damn thing in her life. Said she was the only girl he’d ever met that had a personality as beautiful as she looked.”

Lydia was blushing more than she ever had in her life. She never knew that Arthur felt as strongly as he did. She’d had an idea, but it was still shocking to hear it like that.

“What advice did you give him?” she asked.

“I told him, and these were my exact words, ‘If you don’t go tell Lydia how you really feel, you’re gonna lose her.’ But I had a feeling he wouldn’t say anything to you. He always talked about how he didn’t want to ruin the friendship you two had. And he was pretty embarrassed that I didn’t even have to ask him who he was talking about.”

Lydia sat there thinking for a while. She hadn’t expected Arthur to have really felt like that about her so long ago. While she certainly felt some sort of attraction to him eventually, she never would’ve admitted it, either.

“If he’d told me how he really felt, I would’ve never left,” she finally said, not quite expecting the emotions she was feeling about this new information. “If I’d known then that he actually loved me like that, I would’ve fought my mom tooth and nail to stay here.”

“I know,” Tom said with a smile and a nod. “I know.”

Suddenly the sounds of little Arthur and April could be heard in the kitchen, both of them talking animatedly to Arthur about something to do with fish.

“I guess they had fun,” Lydia said as she got up, smiling at Tom.

“Sounds like it,” he said, also getting up.

As soon as the twins saw their mom, they told her about their swim. How they saw all sorts of fish and realized they could talk and breathe underwater. Eventually they were talking so fast at the same time Lydia had to stop them.

“Whoa, okay,” she said with a chuckle, holding her hands up at them. “Slow down. One at a time. Obviously, you guys had fun.”

“You should come next time, mom!” little Arthur said with a grin. Lydia looked over to Arthur, who’d just come into the kitchen after changing clothes.

“I will, I promise,” Lydia said. “But before anyone does anything or goes anywhere else, you two both need to get out of those wet clothes and take a shower. April, you can take one first.”

Lydia was surprised that her kids actually agreed to listen to what she said as they ran upstairs.

“I take it you guys had a good time,” Tom said to his son with a smile. Arthur nodded, seeming to be a little out of breath.

“They had a blast,” he said, shooting Lydia a grin. “They’re a handful, though.”

Tom shook his head and chucked as he left the room, going back to the small office and leaving Arthur and Lydia alone.

“The twins said I should come next time,” she said as Arthur approached her.

“And they’re exactly right,” Arthur said with a smile. “You should’ve seen Arthur’s reaction when he realized he could talk under water. April tried to play it cool, but she was just as excited about everything.”

“That’s probably gonna be all they talk about for the next week now.”

There was a beat of silence before Arthur asked, “You and my dad had a talk, didn’t you?”

“What makes you ask that?”

Arthur shrugged. “Just a hunch.”

“If you must know, we did. Nothing bad, I promise. It was… an insightful discussion.”

“Which means you probably shared embarrassing memories involving me.”

“Maybe a little bit.” Lydia smirked before continuing, “It was mostly stuff about when you were in high school. Before I was there.”

Arthur groaned before wrapping his arms around Lydia, making her giggle.

“Well whatever it was, as long as it doesn’t change your opinion of me now and doesn’t make you wanna have nothing to do with me, then I’m good,” he said into her hair.

“Oh trust me, I don’t think either of us are going anywhere for a while.”


End file.
